Nicholas Kristof writes, "The gleaming banking center of Bahrain, one of those family-run autocratic Arab states that count as American allies, has become the latest reminder that authoritarian regimes are slow learners."
A wounded protester sits in a hospital bed with shotgun injuries after at least three people were killed and hundreds injured when police stormed an anti-government protest camp in Bahrain's Pearl Square, 02/17/11. (photo: Getty Images)
Tunisia. Egypt. Bahrain?
17 February 11
Nicholas Kristof tweeted from Bahrain: "King Hamad of Bahrain will never regain credibility after attacking peaceful protesters as they slept. Blood is forever on his hands." Kristof also notes that members of the royal family are spreading rumors about him: "Example of #Bahrain govt propaganda: @alibinkhalifa of royal family tweeted that I am 'supporting outlaws with weapons.'" http://twitter.com/#!/nickkristof -- CW/RSN
The gleaming banking center of Bahrain, one of those family-run autocratic Arab states that count as American allies, has become the latest reminder that authoritarian regimes are slow learners.
Bahrain is another Middle East domino wobbled by an angry youth - and it has struck back with volleys of tear gas, rubber bullets and even buckshot at completely peaceful protesters. In the early-morning hours on Thursday here in the Bahrain capital, it used deadly force to clear the throngs of pro-democracy protesters who had turned Pearl Square in the center of the city into a local version of Tahrir Square in Cairo. This was the latest spasm of brutality from a regime that has handled protests with an exceptionally heavy hand - and like the previous crackdowns, this will further undermine the legitimacy of the government.
"Egypt has infected Bahrain," a young businessman, Husain, explained to me as he trudged with a protest march snaking through Manama. Husain (I'm omitting some last names to protect those involved) said that Tunisia and Egypt awakened a sense of possibility inside him - and that his resolve only grew when Bahrain's riot police first attacked completely peaceful protesters.
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Is it any wonder why the Military was the only bureaucratic agencies that was spare of cuts by the new installed GOP House of Representatives ?
Egypt, perhaps, has a lot to do with it. A world wide drive for Democracy is happening.
Are we Americans ready for that?
I feel sorry for anyone naive enough to think merka's death grip by proxy will loosen whenever a dictator like Mubarak is finally forced out by the generals who propped him up in the first place. I also feel sorry for the poor fools who think they can force out their tyrants without first convincing the generals said tyrants have become liabilities to their continuing rule. After all, the generals know merka's got their backs.
http://en.wordpress.com/tag/cunningham-finian/
From the article:
"Up to 20 per cent of Bahrain’s total land area has been reclaimed from the sea over the past three decades.
However, this vast reclamation and development drive has, according to local environmental groups, devastated the island’s marine ecology and fish stocks in particular. The rampant development – which has made fortunes for the country’s elite – has had an equally devastating effect on local communities who have depended on the sea for their livelihoods. While these communities have suffered the blight of unemployment and poverty, they also have witnessed roaring property development, land prices and profits benefiting the ruling elite.
Bahrain’s unstable social formation is underpinned by unwavering US diplomatic and military support. The island serves as the base for the US Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf."
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